Cap or closure for milk and other bottles.



E. D. SCHMITT.

GAP 0R CLOSURE FOR MILK AND OTHER BOTTLES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 21, 1911.

Patented May 14, 1912.

r h w a v M a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. EDWARD D. sonmr'rr, or' -1BALT1'1V[0B.E, MAnYLANnhssienonao mEnrcAN BOTTLE CAP COMPANY, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION or DELAWARE;

4 CAP 0R CLOSURE FOR MILK AND OTHER BOTTLES;

Continuation of application Serial No.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD DJ SCHMI'IT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Caps or Closures for Milk and-other Bottles, of which the following is a s ecification.

This invention relates to a c'apor closure for milk or other bottles.

The ordinary disk closure now commonly used for milk bottles is highly objectionable for several reasons, astheir construction permits'the closure to be removed and replaced without detection, thus enabling unscrupulous drivers or other persons to remove a portion of the original contents of the bottle.

and make up the deficiency with water or other adulteranti thus defrauding the ultimate consumer. This disk closure is also unsanitary in. that there is a space left between the disk and the upper lip of the jar, which accumulates water, dirt, germs and other objectionable foreign substances, which when the disk is pried out or pulled out, falls into the milk, thus contaminating it and rendering it unfit for use. Further, the jar now in use, in order to accommodate the disk, has an annular groove in the inner wall just below the lip. This accumulates milk which sours and becomes objectionable and the formation of the jar is such that it is washed or cleaned with difficulty.

My object is to overcome all of these objections, whichv I do by providing a cap of easily rupturable material, which is adapted to be crimped or indented into locking contact with the-shoulder on the outside of the mouth of the bottle. This cap is so formed that an attempt to remove the. same may be readily detected and it is so constructed that when a torn out a su cient porti on'to enable the cat to be removed, the cap will still retain su icient rigidity to be sprung back upon the neck of the bottle and held there by the locking indentations withsuflicient force to stopper the bottle temporarily. These and other objects .and advantages will become apparent in the course ofthe following de- A scription. In the drawingsFigure 1 1s a perspective view of the cap applied; Fig. 2 1s a similar view showing the cap with the tear,-

ortion of the cap has been 606,666, filed Febrnary 4, 1911.

1911. Serial-No. 646,104.

This application filed August 21,

able portion being torn therefrom; Fig. 3 IS a similar view showing the manner in which the ca may be readily removed after the tab portion has been tornout, leaving the cap in condition'to be re-applied, for temporarily stoppering; Fig. 4 is a sectional view with the cap applied, showing the disk employed in the top of the cap; F lgs. 5 and 6 are modifications, showing a different way of marking or lining the metal in the cap, to guide the tearable portion in the unseal- 111%0 eration.

e erring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, the numeral 1 designates the upper portion of a bottle neck, formed with a rounding lip 2 and a locking shoulder 3.

The numeral .4 designates the cap, which, as'before suggested, is preferably made of the lightest tin obtainable, which I have found in 'practice to be sufficiently rigid to enable it to be tightly or firmly locked to the bottle, and at the same time, sufficiently weak to be easily tearable or rupturable. It is formed preferably with a fiat upper surface 5 against which normally rests adisk of card board, straw-board or other suitable material 6, which may be treated with parafiin or other suitable material to make it impervious to liquid and at the same time, render it more sanitary.

The numeral 7 designates a flange adapted to be indented at lntervals as lndicated at 8 into locking engagement with the locking shoulder 3 of the bottle. At one side of the flange, I provide two vertical indentations9, which terminate at their lower ends in short slits 10.0n each side of a tab 11. The vertical indentations run into linear converging indentations 12, which extend to a point near the center of the cap, as shown.

The vertical indentations 9 and slits 1O serve as starting means for tearing the cap and the converging linear indentations 12, which in thisform are made by indenting themetal along straight lines, from the inside out, serve as guiding lines upon which the material will be torn and they are so arranged that the cap is invariably torn toa; definite point This insures, at all times in opening the cap, the accurate tearing of the same, since the converging lines or markings are those upon which the metal would naturally tear if t-hcindentationswere not present. However, I have found in practice that if the indentations or guiding markings are made to converge, the tab portion will invariably tear to the 'end, whichis highly advantageous, since it is my purpose to tear the cap invariably. the; same distance,

I so as to leave, with absolute certainty, enough thereof, I provide depending lugs 13 preferably integral with the flange. These lugs are turned up or folded upon themselves at their lower ends, to form comfortable finger pieces 14, by which the cap may be readily forced from the top of the bottle by the two thumbs of the operator, without the necessity. of touching any-other part of the cap.

In the modifications shown in- Figs. 5 and 6, the guiding lines are constituted by two converging rows of perforations 15 wh1ch,

in Fig. 5 are shown as slightly elongated nicks and in Fig. 6 round perforations. Otherwise, the construction is like that shown in the preferred form.

The cap is adapted to be applied by machinery in the bottling establishment, by indenting the flange at intervals as shown, but. it will be understood that the flange of the cap may be forced into locking engagement with the locking shoulder in any suitable manner, as for instance, by spinning. 'It will be noted that the lugs 13 are below the flange and that a portion of the tab 11 virtually forms a continuation of the flange, so that in the locking operation, the locking devices will operate upon the tab as well asthose portions of the flange immediately above the lugs, thus producing, for all practical purposes, a continuous flange. I

To remove the cap, it is only necessary to grasp the tab 11 and exert an upward force upon the same, when it will tear along the converging markings. Whenthe tab and its integral material is torn to the desired point, at the end of the markings, the cap will be left with a substantially V-shape opening at the top, butthecontents of the bottle will not be exposed,because of the presence of thedisk 6. However, the removal of the material which the. tab has taken with it, will break the lock-of the seal and a slight upward-pressure applied to the lugs, will spring the cap sufliciently to remove it. After a part of the contents has been removed, the cap with its contained besprung inplace on the bottle,

asv a temporary closure and ultimately thrown away, when the entire contents of the bottle 'has been used.

' From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have produced a cap which admirablymeets with the requirements in handling milk, from both inechanical' and sanitary standpoints, and one which, while it can be readily ruptured to destroy the original seal and make interference or tain' 0 pering with the seal-perfectly obvious, will at the same time, leave the cap sufliciently the purpose of keeping the bottle substantially air-tight, and preventing waste of the contents.

In stoppering milk bottles where a food product is involved which is one of. the

.strong to be replaced upon the bottle, for

best known foods for germ culture, the advantages of a closure such as has been described, will at once be obvious, but while the seal is especially adapted for inilk bottles, it may be put to other uses, where a cap of this generalcharacter will be pracj tical.

This application is a continuation ofmy application Number 606,666, filed February 4,. 1911, and abandoned in favor of. the present application. 1

Having thus described my sai'd invention,

what I claim is 1. A bottle cap of easily rupturable material, formed with a flange adapted to make locking contact with alocking surface on the-exterior of a bottle neck, said flange beingprovided with markings to serve as starting means for tearing the cap, converging linear markings in the top. of the cap,

said top markings ceasing at a point approximate to the center of the cap, the. top markings being a continuation of the markings of the flange, the part within said markings being adapted to be torn out along s'aid markings, whereby the seal is broken without rendering the cap unfit as a temporary seal.

2. A bottle cap of easily rupturable ma- 4 terial, formed with a flange adapted to make locking contact with a locking surface on the exterior of a bottle neck, said flange being provided with linear indentations to serve as starting means for tearing the cap, converging linear indentations in the top of the cap, forming a continuation of the indentations in the flange, the top indentations intersecting at a point approximate to the centerof the cap, whereby the tearable portion of the cap is made to invariablyfollow the lines 'of indentations, and a tab integral with the flange portion of the cap between the flange indentations.

3. A bottle cap of easily rupturable material, formed with a flange adapted tomake locking contact with the exterior of a bottle neck, said flange being provided with linear indentations, linear indentations in the top of the cap and running into the indentations in the flange, the flange indentations servin as starting means. for tearing. the cap, an

the top indentations as guiding lines upon which the ca .is torn, a lug at each side of the flange in entations, serving as means for readily removing the cap, after the seal has said locking surface, said flange being probeen broken, su

4. A bottle cap of easily rupturable ma terial formed with a flan e adapted to make locking contact with a 100 'ng surface on theexterior of a bottleneck, said flange being provided with indentations to serve as starting means for tearingthe cap, converging linear indentations in the top of the cap running into the flange indentations, a tab integral with the flange and adapted to serve as means for readily vtearing thecap,

and a lugon the flange on each side of the tab, substantially as and forthe purpose set forthl;

5. A bottle cap of easily rupturable material, formed with a flange adapted to make lockin contact with a locking surface on the exterior of'a bottle neck, said flange being slitted at two points for about onehalf its depth, indentations in the flange running into said slits, linear indentations.

in the top of the cap, intersecting at a point approximate to the. centerof thecap, and" serving as guide lines or tearing the cap, a tab integral with the flange between the slits and lugs on each side of the tab, substantially'as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a closure for bottles or jars, the combinationof a jar having an annular locking surface ,on the eirterior of its neck, a ca of easily rupturable material formed wit a flange adapted to make locking contact with stantially' as and for the purpose-set forth.

vided with markings. to serve as starting means for tearing the cap, converging markings in the top of the cap, the said top markings ceasing at a point approximate to the center of the cap,the top markings being a continuation of the markings of the flange, the part within said markings being adapted to be torn out along the lines of the markings, whereby the seal is broken, w1thout rendering the cap unfit as a temporary seal and a disk of suitable material between the cap and the bottle lip and held in place by the cap.

' markings being adapted to be torn out along said markings, whereby the seal is broken without rendering the cap unfit as a temporary seal, and a disk contained in the cap for the purpose of covering the opening in the cap when the same has been torn.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signatur in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD D. SCHMITT.

- Witness es:

Jos. T. NossEL, PERoY V wmerrr. 

